A monologue from the perspective of Judas, prior to the Last Supper.
I say ‘the perspective’, but it might be better to say ‘a perspective’ as this piece probably has a more compassionate and understanding interpretation of Judas than Christian tradition as always portrayed.
The name’s Judas.
Jesus called me – like he did the rest of us.
I’ve listened to his teaching.
Travelled far and wide.
He commissioned me with the rest,
with authority to heal and preach and cast out demons.
And boy does the world need that.
The evil powers of the Romans,
Influencing everything.
They’ve got the pressure on the temple leaders.
Pushing them into a corner.
Corrupting our religion, our way of life.
Something’s got to change.
And Jesus’ radical message was one I was wholeheartedly behind.
Down with the Romans and their defilement of our country!
I’m ready to take them on by force.
And there’s others too.
There’s plenty of people who want to see them gone.
I’m ready to rally the troops when Jesus gives the signal.
In the meantime,
I’ve been serving the cause as treasurer for Jesus and the group.
Managing the money,
Making sure we have enough to get by.
It’s hard work – life on the road,
Not knowing whether we’ll have a safe place to sleep each night.
Especially when Jesus doesn’t exactly tell us the itinerary for the week.
It’s hard to plan ahead when you don’t know where you’ll be by nightfall!
And then he goes and disappears to ‘be with his father’,
without even telling us where he’s going!
The number of times we’ve not been sure where he is.
Worried they’ve captured him.
And given how increasingly unsafe it’s been getting,
That’s been really concerning me.
And then walking into Jerusalem,
Boy oh boy I thought it was the moment,
Riding a donkey,
And parading in from the east,
just as Pilate was doing so from the west.
The crowds gathered,
“Hosannah to the Son of David!”
I was getting ready to sound the trumpet,
And rally the troops,
I knew we could do it,
Liberate our people,
And get back to being the community of God we’re called to be.
But then, he went and trashed the temple!
We’re meant to be overthrowing the Romans,
Not our own!
I mean, yes the Romans have a lot of control in the temple,
But trashing the temple,
Think about the optics!
That looks like an attack on our people,
Not the Roman puppeteers who exert their power.
It was at that point,
I decided that the pressure must have been getting to Jesus.
He was risking everything,
The impetus that’s been building among the people,
That I’ve been building among those willing for an uprising.
Now people were beginning to doubt.
So I decided,
I’ve got to do something.
I’d save the programme.
Steady the ship.
Steer us in the right direction.
And Passover is just the time to do it.
Jerusalem is full of people remembering how God delivered Isreal from slavery of Egypt.
Full of people who will be on right side of the fight.
Now God will deliver us from the oppression of the Romans,
Just like he did for Israel when the escaped Egypt.
So I quietly went to see the Chief Priests.
Asked them what they wanted,
And they said, if I hand him over to them,
Betray him,
They’ll sort the rest.
And pay me 30 pieces of silver for it!
Betrayal – that’s a loaded word.
I wasn’t betraying him,
I was just creating the right circumstances for Jesus to do what Jesus came to do.
Revolution.
Reform.
Out with the Roman’s – in with God’s way.
God’s kingdom – come on earth.
So if Jesus is Messiah,
The one who has come to save,
When he gets arrested,
Captured,
They he’ll have no choice,
But to make the call to arms,
And we’ll gathering in great numbers,
Overthrow the Romans,
And we’ll be liberated at last.
And 30 pieces of silver,
That will go a long way to convince the people on the fence about joining us in the uprising.
It’s an added sweetener,
An investment to help the cause.
The Romans will all be taken off guard,
And the revolution will really begin.
It’s not betrayal.
It’s just doing what needs to be done.
Nudging things forwards,
Before the momentum gets lost.
It’s a weight of responsibility.
I feel it heavily.
But it’s the burden I have to bear,
The sacrifice I make,
for the cause of the kingdom of God.
I’ve just got to do something.
Rev Dan Balsdon's Blog 